The story below is an excerpt from our May/June 2014 issue. For the rest of this story and more like it subscribe today, view our digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
A blue ridge parkway signature tradition was interrupted for a time but the Sunday and Friday night buffets are back.
Summer days are made for leisurely drives along the Blue Ridge Parkway with its myriad of breathtaking overlooks, leafy nooks for picnics, and no shortage of deer or turkeys meandering along the forested sides. It’s no surprise then that while America’s favorite past time, the weekend drive, may have fallen into the dusty pages of history elsewhere, it is alive and well in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.
One such must-do summer drive begins, conveniently for those in the northern half of Virginia, in Western Maryland, northeastern West Virginia or Washington D.C., at the asphalt headwaters of the parkway near Waynesboro, Va. Start your morning at the soaring crest of Afton Mountain, where the parkway begins its way south, and aim for the Peaks of Otter, some 86 miles down the road. Along the way, the roadway winds through temperate forests and offers up craggy vistas at the Humpback Rocks (mile post 5.8) as well as cool fishing pools or leisurely, graded trails to walk at the James River (milepost 60), with plenty of beautiful views in between.
